Middle East

The US-Israel war on Iran, the Gaza war, ceasefire diplomacy and the region's interlocking conflicts. Coverage tracks the gap between what governments say and what they do — in Washington, Jerusalem, Tehran and the capitals that watch from a careful distance.

Putin Cancels Russia-Arab Summit as Middle East Influence Wanes

Vladimir Putin cancelled the Russia-Arab summit without explanation. The cancellation is itself the explanation. Russia is overextended, its credibility in the Middle East strained by the Iran conflict, and the Arab states it once courted are recalibrating toward Washington and Beijing.

By Sunny Peter

/ 15 Oct 2025

Putin Cancels Russia-Arab Summit as Middle East Influence Wanes

Civil Society's Frontline: How Aid Flotillas Are Reshaping Conflict Diplomacy

Aid flotillas are not humanitarian operations — they are political acts. They challenge blockades, generate confrontations and force governments to respond. Civil society has learned to use the tools of conflict to expose it. The flotilla model is not going away. It is spreading.

By Sunny Peter

/ 9 Oct 2025

Civil Society's Frontline: How Aid Flotillas Are Reshaping Conflict Diplomacy

Between Technocracy and Sovereignty: Can International Administration Work in Gaza?

Some have proposed internationally administered governance for Gaza as an alternative to Hamas or Israeli occupation. The idea is serious — and seriously complicated. International administration has a poor track record. But the alternatives being proposed are no more promising.

By Sunny Peter

/ 7 Oct 2025

Between Technocracy and Sovereignty: Can International Administration Work in Gaza?

Can Iran and Israel Really Become Friends? Trump Thinks They Can

The Trump administration floated Israeli-Iranian normalisation as part of a regional realignment. The proposal misreads both states. Iran and Israel are not estranged partners — they are ideological adversaries whose hostility is structural, not diplomatic.

By Sunny Peter

/ 1 Oct 2025

Can Iran and Israel Really Become Friends? Trump Thinks They Can

Everyone’s Celebrating Trump’s Gaza Plan—Except the People Who’ve Heard These Promises Before

Every administration produces a Gaza plan. Every plan arrives with optimism and departs without implementation. The people who know this best are Palestinians — who have watched the same cycle repeat for thirty years. Celebrations are premature. They always are.

By Sunny Peter

/ 30 Sep 2025

Everyone’s Celebrating Trump’s Gaza Plan—Except the People Who’ve Heard These Promises Before

Gaza Endgame: How Hamas Survival Reshapes Middle East Strategy

Hamas was supposed to be destroyed. It has not been. Its survival — not as a governing force, but as a political and military reality — reshapes every calculation in the Middle East. The war’s original objective has failed. What comes next is being improvised.

By Sunny Peter

/ 4 Sep 2025

Gaza Endgame: How Hamas Survival Reshapes Middle East Strategy

Gaza Crisis: Diplomatic Stalemate as Annexation Calls Deepen Humanitarian Catastrophe

While diplomats negotiated and envoys shuttled, conditions in Gaza continued to deteriorate. The gap between what was being discussed at the diplomatic level and what was happening on the ground was not a failure of information. It was a failure of will.

By Sunny Peter

/ 29 Aug 2025

Gaza Crisis: Diplomatic Stalemate as Annexation Calls Deepen Humanitarian Catastrophe